Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, gave Rosalin Baker, 25, a “thumbs up” as she hitched a ride with their 16-week-old baby daughter who was already dead.

When Baker hopped on the number 25 bus, the mum gave the impression she had only just realised her baby was in danger, jurors heard.

Distressed passengers desperately battled to save the the little girl, Imani, who was not breathing.

But as members of the public “did all they could to help”, Baker remained “cold and calm”, a court was told.

COURT NEWS

SEVERE: A court heard the baby died from a fractured skull and brain injuries

Paramedics rushed Imani to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The infant, who was born prematurely at 28 weeks, had already died from a fractured skull and brain injuries caused by her being thrown against the floor or a wall, jurors heard.

She had also suffered a fractured wrist as a result of her arm being pulled or twisted, and at least 40 rib fractures, caused by her chest being squeezed as the baby's tiny body was shaken, said prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC.

Prosecutors say the injuries were caused by parents Baker and Wiltshire in their tiny bedsit in Manor Park, east London, in the week before 28 September last year.

The Old Bailey heard Imani had been the victim of “severe assault” at least three times in the week or so before Baker boarded the number 25 bus on Romford Road at 9.34am.

“She was waved off by her partner, Jeffrey Wiltshire, who gave her a thumbs up as the bus moved away.”

Duncan Atkinson QC

Mr Atkinson said: “She was waved off by her partner, Jeffrey Wiltshire, who gave her a thumbs up as the bus moved away.

“During the course of the bus journey Baker suddenly sought help from her fellow passengers for a problem that she said she had just identified with her daughter.

“Those members of the public, presented with the nightmare of an infant who was not breathing, did all they could to help.

“They were panicking and distressed. In contrast, Baker was cold and calm.”

As members of the public and paramedics battled to save her child, Baker sat to one side before trying to contact her sister and then Wiltshire, the court heard.

Imani was taken to Newham General Hospital, but there was nothing medics could do to save her.

COURT NEWS

CALM: Rosalin Baker boarded the bus in the bus in Stratford, east London with her dead baby

The prosecutor said: “'The injuries after Imani had died, when inflicted, would have caused Imani very significant pain and distress, such as would have been obvious to any parent in whose care she then was.

“The after effects of at least some of them would have continued to be obvious thereafter.

“Yet in that last week neither parent sought to get Imani immediate medical help, or to prevent the later incidents of violence from occurring.”

Baker and Wiltshire were both arrested on the afternoon of 28 September after doctors raised concerns about their baby's injuries.

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ACCUSED: The trial is taking place at the Old Bailey in Londom

Mr Atkinson said, they each lied to police, even denying Wiltshire was Imani's father.

They also denied they had been together in the period before their baby's death and particularly the night before, jurors heard.

But the prosecutor said: “These defendants are the only realistic candidates for having caused the injuries from which Imani died.

“If they were not both responsible for the infliction of injury, at least one of them failed to intervene when the other did.”

Baker and Wiltshire, both of Manor Park, east London, deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.